Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Bitten at a Dog Park

So Isaac was bitten by another dog last week at a dog park.

I am careful about dog parks. I take Isaac to them, but we only go to those that are kept clean (which not only means fewer germs around from dog poop but owners actually pay attention to their dogs there), we only go when they aren't too crowded, and we leave if Isaac or another dog is not behaving appropriately. That means if Isaac decides he wants to hump another dog and he won't knock it off, we leave. Even if we've only been there 10 minutes. Yes, that happeneds
But last week. There were only two other dogs there, both huskies, with different owners. One Isaac and I had seen there before. He is older, I think eight years or maybe 10, and he likes to lie in the shade and watch the other dogs run around. He will play some but he is pretty calm and laid back. The other dog we had not seen before, but the two huskies appeared to be great friends.

All three were getting along nicely for about an hour. Then Isaac and the husky we hadn't seen before had a disagreement about something. I'm not sure what. I am sure Isaac was not trying to hump the husky. I don't think Isaac did anything to provoke the bite. But all over a sudden, they were snarling and going at each other. It was over quickly. Isaac looked OK and we left.

I looked him over in the car before we drove away. I didn't see any signs of injury. His face was dirty from playing and I wiped it off carefully, and then looked at the towel to see if there was any blood. There wasn't. I decided he was not inured and we drove home.

And then when we were heading into our apartment, I saw a streak of blood on the side of his face.

I was more upset that Isaac was, I think. It turned out he had three small puncture wounds on his face, one not too deep, the other two deeper. I admit to panicking a bit. I washed his face. I cried. I called the vet, only to find our vet had closed at noon that day. I couldn't decide if it was an emergency or not, if I could call the emergency number or not. I thought about calling another nearby vet to see if I could get him in there that day, but felt overwhelmed at the prospect. I ended up calling the emergency number at Isaac's regular vet.

The vet said he would need antibiotics and to bring him in the next day, so I did. Isaac is fine with that, because the antibiotics are served with hotdogs.

Isaac has recovered well from his bite and I've recovered as well, though I am still rather shaky.